How to Cure Anxiety Disorder

Anxiety Disorder is a blanket term for having unrealistic fears. Anxiety Disorder can include panic attacks, obsessive-compulsive behaviors, phobias, and social anxiety. Symptoms may include: lack of emotion, difficulty breathing, sleep disturbances, irritability, panic, paranoia, depression, worrying, headaches, and feeling hopeless. The US National Institute of Health estimates that 18% of Americans suffer from some type of Anxiety Disorder. Curing Anxiety Disorder can include many options: therapy, medication, relaxation techniques, and more.

There are two main modalities of therapy to cure Anxiety Disorder: behavior therapy and cognitive therapy. Behavior therapy cures Anxiety Disorder by helping you gain control of your fears and worries. You will learn to cope with situations that trigger anxiety for you. Behavior therapy is great because you will play an active role in restructuring your life and thinking for the better.

Cognitive therapy is another option to cure Anxiety Disorder. Cognitive therapy focuses more on how you think than how you behave. Your therapist will help you learn to identify realistic and unrealistic thoughts. This type of therapy, like behavior therapy, puts you in an active role for permanently bettering your life.

How else to cure Anxiety Disorder? Medication is a popular option. Many people suffering from Anxiety Disorders combine medication and therapy. The main types of anxiety medications include:
- Benzodiazapenes - such as Klonopin, Xanax, and Ativan, they are anticonvulsive sedatives
- Seratonin - one of the brain's natural hormones, effects sleep, appetite, mood, metabolism, and body temperature
- Barbituates - central nervous system depressants, prescribed only for short periods when other medications fail
Regardless of the type of medication, they all help to restore chemical imbalances that can lead to anxiety. While medication can not "cure" Anxiety Disorders, they can help you gain a stable enough footing to try more permanent cures.

Relaxation techniques can also cure Anxiety Disorders like a therapy by helping you learn new, improved coping techniques that can easily become habits. Some effective techniques for curing Anxiety Disorder include deep breathing, getting better sleep, exercising, taking relaxing baths, keeping a gratitude journal, eating healthy, surrounding yourself with supportive people, getting a pet, and spending time doing hobbies you enjoy.

One of the most popular and effective relaxation techniques for curing Anxiety Disorder is meditation. Meditation relieves uneasiness and apprehensiveness in a number of ways. First of all, anxiety is generally brought on by the incessant stream of thoughts running through one's mind. Meditation's main purpose is to turn off that never-ending voice in the head, in order to experience calmness and stillness. To cure Anxiety Disorder during meditation, do a mental scan of each part of your body from head to toe at the beginning of the meditation to see if you are holding on to stress or anxiety in that part of your body. If so, lovingly release it. Feel the serenity and peace that is you at the moment. Visualize carrying that tranquility with you as you sit in traffic, referee the kids, and face your boss.

Curing Anxiety Disorder is a realistic goal using a combination of the above techniques.